Air gun



A. L. STRAUB' Dec. 7, 193 7.

AIR GUN Filed May 20, 1936 awn-w INVENTOR. 7 BY I M ATTORNEY}.

Patented Dec. 7, 1937 UNITED STATES 'ATENT OFFiCE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to air guns, and particularly to a gun of that character provided with a magazine in which a plurality of projectiles v may be stored and pushed toward the chamber 5 in which they are lodged successively for ejection by compressed air.

It is an object of this invention to provide a gunhaving'an air reservoir in which air is confined under pressure, and provided with communicating means between the chamber and the gun,said communicating means being in the nature of a pipe leading from the reservoir to the chamber at the rear of the seat in which the projectile is held prior to its being released and projected.

I It is a further object of this invention to provide means for supplying air to the reservoir "and a valve therefor which is opened and closed according to the presence or absence of a projectile in the chamber.

It'is furthermore an object of this invention to provide novel means'for arresting and holding a projectile in the chamber, and the provision of novel means for operating the arresting and holding means to release the projectile, while at the same time retaining the projectiles in the magazine from movement until after the projectile in the chamber is discharged and the parts are-restored to normal operative position for arresting the next succeeding projectile and releasing those that are in the magazine, in order that they may be advanced under the influence of a" spring operative to force the outermost projectileinto the chamber. L

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a trigger mechanism operative to actuate the means for holding the projectiles against movement in: the magazine during the time the projectile in the chamber is being subjected to the influence of compressed air; the said trigger having operating means for moving the detent or device that retains the projectile in the chamber to disengage the said detent for firing.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the inventionconsists in the details of construction, and in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter more, fully set forth and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawing forming part of this application, wherein like characters denote corresponding parts in the several views, and in which- Figure 1 illustrates a sectional view of the air gun with the reservoir and parts associated therewith in elevation;

Figure 2 illustrates a detail view of .a yoke associated with the linkage for operating an air supply valve, the said valve being operated by '5 the projectile entering the chamber;

Figure 3 illustrates'a detail view of one of the levers;

Figure 4 illustrates a view in elevation of the projectile detent for holding the projectile in the chamber; and

Figure 5 illustrates a detail view of the projectile.

In this drawing, [0 denotes the stock of the gun having a magazine II in which projectiles are movably held in order that they may be successively'moved into the compression chamber l2, from which they are discharged under the influence of compressed air, as will presently appear.

At the butt end. of the stock the magazine is provided with a plug or end plate 13, preferably threaded in the magazine, and a spring M bears against the plate l3 and is under compression when the projectiles are in place. A transversely r disposed pin or detent I5 is located in a recess 0 IS in the stock, and the pin is under compression of a spring I! which normally holds the said detent outwardly so that its inner end is not in the path of travel of the projectiles, except as n the detent is actuated, as will presently appear. The barrel l8 has a chamber which is formed as a part of the barrel at its rear end and the said barrel has a slot I9. A pin or pivot 20 extends transversely of the slot, and an angularly disposed lever 2! is mounted on said pivot. The lever is so arranged in the slot that one arm thereof projects into the barrel in the path of travel of a projectile entering the chamber, and the other arm of the lever is connected by linkage to the valve 22 of any appropriate construction, the said linkage serving to close the valve of an air supply pipe 22" when the projectile is in the chamber. The valve is forced to an open position by a spring 23 when a projectile leaves the chamber and, during that interval, air is supplied to the reservoir 23 but on the arrival of the next succeeding projectile in the chamber, the lever is moved to the position in which it is shown in Fig. 1 and the valve is again closed. The linkage, to which reference has been made, comprises a yoke 24, shown in Fig. 2, one end of which is pivotally connected to the lever 2| and the other end thereof is pivoted to a bell crank 25 oscillatable on a pin 26 of the lug 21 carried by the reservoir; the other arm of said bell crank being connected to the valve stem 28 whose actuation, under the influence of the spring or the projectile entering the firing chamber, communicates motion to the said valve.

A detent or arresting member 29 is slidable through a slot 3!] in the wall of the chamber and is projected into the chamber under the influence of a spring 3| located on the reservoir and engag-. ing the lower end of the said detent. The detent has a slot 32 into which the camming end 33 of the rod 34 projects and when the said rod is projected outwardly through the said slot the camming surface engages the lower edge of the slot and moves the said detent downwardly out of the path of travel of the projectile so that the said projectile is released and, under the influence of air pressure entering the chamber through the pipe at leading from the reservoir, the projectile is propelled or discharged from the gun. During the time the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1, compressed air is confined in the firing chamber back of the projectile and when the detent 29 is moved downwardly the firing occurs and the projectile in the chamber is discharged.

In order to move the rod 34 to operate the detent 29 to release the projectile, a trigger 35 is oscillatable on a pivot 36 of the stock and the rear end of the said rod is connected to the trigger by means of the pin 37 which operates in a slot 38 in an arm of the trigger, so that when the trigger is pulled, the rod 34 is projected and the detent is moved to release the projectile. Simul taneously the detent I is forced inwardly to engage a projectile in the magazine so that the pro jectiles are held against movement under the influence of the spring during such discharge of the projectile. On releasing the trigger, the detent, under the influence of the spring l1, forces the trigger to its normal position, it being shown that the detent engages an arm 39 integral with the trigger. As a sequence of operation, therefore, when the parts are in the position in which they are illustrated in Fig. 1, pulling the trigger to fire the gun, the detent 29 releases the projectile and the lever 2| oscillates under the influence of the spring 23 so that the end projects into the firing chamber. At the same time the detent I5 is projected into engagement with a projectile in the magazine and all of the projectiles in the magazine are held against movement. On release of the trigger the parts are restored to the position in which they are shown in Fig. 1 by reason of the fact that the spring M will force the outermost projectile into the firing chamber where it will be arrested by the detent 29, and there will be a repetition of the operation each time the trigger is manually operated. The rod 34 may extend through the pipe a, it being understood that the pipe a will be sufllciently broad so that the rod does not interrupt the flow of air through the pipe 0. to a sufficient degree to affect the operation of the device. Under certain conditions, the rod 34 may be curved between its ends to embrace the pipe a, the curve being suflicient to leave a clearance for the movement of the rod.

Figure5 shows a slight distortion of the flexible disk when forced into the chamber in order that an airtight joint is effected between the said disk and the wall of the chamber.

I claim:

1. In an air gun, a stock and a barrel, the said 'stock having a magazine and the barrel having a projectile chamber communicating therewith, means for urging projectiles from the magazine to the chamber, the said barrel having a slot merging with the portion thereof in which the projectile is lodged prior to its discharge, a detent slidable through the slot into engagement with the projectile in the chamber and operative to hold the projectile therein, the said barrel having a slot in proximity to the first mentioned slot, a lever oscillatably mounted in the last mentioned slot and having an angularly disposed portion lying longitudinally of the barrel when engaged by the projectile, means for oscillating the lever to move the angularly disposed portion into the barrel when the projectile is discharged, the said angularly disposed portion being in position to be engaged and moved by the succeeding projectile, means for urging the detent into Operative relation with the projectile, means for retracting the detent when the projectile is to be released, an air pressure reservoir carried by the gun structure, means of communication between the said reservoir and the chamber back of the position of the projectile in the chamber whereby air issuing from the reservoir discharges the projectile when it is released, and means for holding the projectiles in the magazine during the firing of the projectile in the chamber, the said means being releasable upon completion of the firing.

2. In an air gun using projectiles having an annular recess and flange, a stock and a barrel having a chamber, the said stock having a magazine in communication with the chamber, a spring removably applied to the butt end of the magazine, the said spring being adapted to engage projectiles for forcing them out of the magazine into the chamber successively, a detent extending through the stock into the magazine adapted to enter the recesses of the successive projectiles as they are moved outwardly in the magazine, for holding each projectile successively in place, a trigger, an arm thereon engaging the first mentioned detent for moving it inwardly to engage a projectile, means for forcing the detent outwardly upon release by the trigger, a rod connected to the trigger and having a camming end remote from the trigger for engaging the second mentioned detent for moving it out of engagement with the projectile in the chamber, a spring for returning the last mentioned detent to its operative position when released by the action of the'trigger, a reservoir for holding air under compression, means of communication between the reservoir and the rear of the projectile in the chamber, a valve connection for supplying air to the reservoir, and means operated by the movement of the projectile into the chamber for operating the said valve.

3. In an' air gun using projectiles having an annular recess and flange, a stock and a barrel having a chamber, the said stock having a magazine in communication with the chamber, a spring removably applied to the butt end of the magazine, the said spring being adapted to engage pro jectiles for forcing them out of the magazine into the chamber successively, a detent extending through the stock into the magazine adapted to enter the recesses of the successive projectiles as they are moved outwardly in the magazine, for holding each projectile successively in place, a trigger, an arm thereon engaging the first mentioned detent for moving it inwardly to engage a projectile, means for forcing the detent outwardly upon release by the trigger, a rod connected to the trigger and having a camming end remote from the trigger for engaging the second mentioned detent for moving it out of engagement with the projectile in the chamber, a spring for returning the last mentioned detent'to its operative position when released by the action of the trigger, a reservoir for holding air under compression, means of communication between the reservoir and the rear of the projectile in the chamber, a valve connection for supplying air to the reservoir, a lever having an angularly dislo posed end, the said barrel having a slot in which the lever is pivoted for movement with relation to V the chamber so related thereto that the angularly disposed end of the lever projects into the chamher when the projectile is discharged, and linkage for operating the lever to the aforesaid position, the said lever being moved by the projectile as it enters the chamber, whereby the aforesaid valve is operated through said linkage when the projectile enters the chamber.

ALVIN L. S'IRAUB.v 

